Gadgetory

for years I've heard the same requests over and over again from cord cutters I just want a basic DVR that records free over-the-air TV without any subscription fees it's always seem like a product that should exist but the options have been underwhelming and that's exactly the niche that channel masters new DVR plus is looking to fill hey I'm Matthew Muscovy ak from C net and the $250 DVR plus is one of the only over-the-air DVRs on the market that truly doesn't have a subscription fee it has a super thin design at just an inch and a half tall but it's also wide and deep giving it a unique pancake-like shape it's just thick enough to accommodate its ports on the back which include an antenna input HDMI output Ethernet port two USB ports and an IR extender port there's also an included remote which is decent but there's a lot of room for improvement the playback buttons that you use the most are all small and they're scrunch at the bottom making it difficult to navigate by feel setting up the DVR Plus doesn't take long but the catch is that you're going to have to supply a lot of your own accessories to take full advantage of all the DVR plusses features you'll need an antenna to receive over-the-air TV signals and a USB hard drive to save your recordings the DVR plus also likes built-in Wi-Fi so if you don't have a thern ette in your living room you may have to shell out for channel masters $40.00 USB Wi-Fi dongle once you've assembled and set up all your gear you can fire up the DVR plus and watch some TV if you have good reception in your area you should be able to tune in to all the major networks like CBS NBC Fox and ABC Plus PBS and a few local stations too there's also support for Vudu streaming video service which gives you pay per view access to movies and TV shows that you can't get over the air the channel master user interface is basic but it should look familiar to anyone that's used at cable box and that's actually a big plus as many of the new over-the-air recording solutions like tableau or Aereo lack a traditional on-screen interface which can make them a little clunkier to use for true channel TV watching if you have the DVR plus connected online it will also receive Rove ease program guide data for free which is really nice since Ravi's data displays any show airing within 14 days the DVR plus has dual tuner functionality which music and record two shows at once or you can watch live TV while recording another program recording a program is simple and you can also tell the DVR plus to record every episode of your favorite show although you can't tell it to only record new episodes so you're probably going to end up with a lot of repeats you don't want to watch for the most part image quality on the DVR plus is excellent although in a few rare occasions I did see some playback glitches on recording programs which ends up being a minor annoyance but overall the DVR plus hits most of the major points cord cutters have been looking for including the big one it reliably records over-the-air TV without any monthly fees I wish it was a little cheaper and with more streaming services and it had more refined recording options but if you're a cord cutter whose primary goal is to save money and you can live with the imperfections it's hard to beat the channel master DVR plus I'm Matthew moscovia and this is the channel master DVR plus you